A Second Chance Article

[ry0un0suke]

War between east and west calm down.
Yet in the space in between, chaos brews.
 
1832AC, the Fourth Month
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'Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.'
 
How can the value of human life be measured? Is there a scale of worth? I find myself wondering how others weigh and value life. I've recently participated in an inhumane auction of someone's life with a 'bid' starting at fifty-thousand coin. Is that how much humans are worth? A baseline price of fifty-thousand coin? I find it better than outright murder but a lesser evil is still not evil. I played into an evil to save another's life but did not succeed personally. War breeds a cycle of misunderstanding and stereotypes. We dig motes around ourselves that become rivers, lakes, and oceans. We alienate those who we cannot agree with. When surrounded by nothing but affirmation is when stagnation occurs. Ideas that are never challenged do not improve. No matter one's creed, origins, uniform, at the end of the day, we're all human.
 
Even those we believe to be monsters.
 
Article topics have been difficult to write on. So much occurs then I weigh its value for publication. Justice? Life? Death? The past few months have both celebrations and mourning. For some, the two can tie into the same occurrence. Celebrating death, basking in acts of justice, revenge. Murder in self-defense is murder. Murder for duty is murder. Murder for pleasure is murder. I am surrounded by those who've had their hands in killing. Far too few do we celebrate life. When is the last time you've reveled in one's existence and not in the downfall of another?
 
Someone I did not love has recently died. She was murdered. The specifics allude me but the tale drifts throughout the streets of Achyon in hushed murmurs. Even though I bear no love for a woman with a visage like a monster and aura much the same- Even though she hurt me and others I know, I didn't hate her. I don't hate Edingel Sinaldine. I do not celebrate her death and I feel a pain in my chest knowing she was killed. Once, someone told me my want for those to not die is ignorance. After telling me that, I heard weeks later that he was killed by a rogue Achyon soldier, Vitus. Months later, that same soldier, a friend of mine and last piece of someone dear, was killed. I walked past his killer before preparing my article draft. Dimitri Asimov killed him. Killing infects us and runs rampant like a viral disease.
 
The specifics allude me but death is not the sole option. Reformation can occur. We can help those who've wronged heal and get better. Culling humanity doesn't promote any goodness. Threats of death can be effective but the thoughts of wrongdoing will remain. Compared to many, my views are an outlier. I don't believe forced faith or forced labor can change others. Those are blankets, band-aids for cracked glass. True reform comes from the self and is nurtured. Revenge will always stain one's view in red.
 
Yet, we're human. At our core, we're flawed.
Admit your flaws.
 
Leones Astra
33. Don't expect life to be fair.